Cade’s eyes traced over my face, dropping to my neck. He lifted his hand, wrapping it around the fabric covering my throat. “I don’t owe you anything. You’re just here because I’m paying you to be. You’re my employee, not my partner.”
I swallowed, feeling his hand tighten incrementally on my throat.
My stomach rumbled, rolling over on itself with hunger. Cade stepped back, frowning at me. His voice held a note of concern when he said, “You’re hungry.”
I laughed, the sound bright in the tense room. “Starving.”
Cade huffed in exasperation, his breath moving the hair that hung over his forehead.
“Hang on,” he said. He pulled out his phone, typing something onto the screen. “Someone will send up food.”
He turned away, heading into his closet. I fought the urge to follow him, to watch him undress, to drink in each inch of pale skin covered in tattoos. Instead, I sank down on the bench.
I heard something that sounded like scratching inside the wall. A moment later, there was a pale green light that appeared above where I remembered the dumbwaiter being. I pressed my palm to the light, and it opened, revealing a platter of food.
By the time Cade emerged, wearing soft pants and a V-necked shirt, I was halfway through a steak. I had almost shoved the baked potato into my mouth whole, but at the last second, I cut it in half, slathering it with sour cream and butter. I did have some self-respect, although I had no idea what Ms. Manners would say about this situation.
Cade stared at me, a struck expression on his face.
I shrugged. “What can I say? I was raised by wolves.”
Shaking his head, Cade covered his face with one hand, his shoulders shaking with quiet laughter. I finished eating, the creamy texture of the potato and the delicious chew of the meat perfect. When I finished, I realized how much of my anger had been hunger disguised.
Cade crossed his arms, standing in the middle of the room, his entire body tensing. “ItwasDeclan. The money. Years ago, before I was born, maybe before my father was, House Bartlett had to sell off a lot of its property in Los Santos.” A line of ink swirled down his arm, circling until it turned into a spiral. “The family was short on cash, something about the markets and investments. Then, we conquered House Doyle, absorbing their assets. All of a sudden, House Bartlett was on top again. But we never got the property back.”
“You tookHouse Bartlettmoney to buy back some of it?” I used the cloth napkin to wipe my mouth. Folding it, I replaced it on the tray, then turned to put the entire thing back in the dumbwaiter. “Money that Brett thinks wasn’t yours to take.”
“Yes. I was making a deal with Declan. The money was the down payment.”
I squinted at Cade. “Declan doesn’t own that much property in Los Santos.”
Land in California costs money. Land with buildings costs more money. Declan didn’t need toowna building to have complete control of it.
“He didn’t own it. He was helping me evict some of the current residents.” Cade’s lips twitched, and he tilted his head self-deprecatingly.
I could see what happened like I was looking at one of those 3D optical illusions from grade school and it suddenly came into focus.
“You were paying Declan to force some tenants out so that you could buy the building at a discount. He betrayed you. He got the people out, but then he bought the building.” I opened my mouth, then shook my head. Lifting my finger, I pointed at Cade. “He bought the building with your money.”
“Yes.” Cade nodded. “It was some property along the waterfront. I saw the possibility of evicting current renters and rehabbing it, turning it into apartments.”
“Are you kidding me? You were trying to use Declan to gentrify the downtown?” My eyebrows were almost up to my hairline. “That’s…”
I blew out a breath.
“Yes, well, now I see how foolish it was.” Cade exhaled again, the breath short. “And it wasn’t about gentrification. When House Bartlett initially owned the property, it was considered part of the house, meaning many mages lived there. Mages who might not have been able to afford it on their own.”
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my knees. “Okay, let’s try this again. You paid Declan to knock some heads, break some windows, kick out the current tenants. Your plan was to turn the waterfront into affordable housing for mages?”
Cade blew out a frustrated breath, reaching up to dig his hands into his hair. “House Bartlett abides by its own laws. If I could reclaim the swathes of Los Santos that once belonged to us, we would regain control over several key ley lines. If, in the process, we could offer free or affordable housing to mages who need it, then we would be adding fresh blood to the house, new members who might be able to… shake up the status quo.”
I stared at Cade for a long moment, trying to detangle what he wasn’t saying.
“Is this about House Morrison? They’ve been welcoming people in with open arms for decades. Even people that didn’t come from established mage families.” The only framework I had for this was werewolf packs. What would it look like if a pack let itself stagnate the way House Bartlett had? Only accepting people from the same lines, the same families.
“Yes.” Cade sat on the edge of his bed, his bare feet barely brushing the carpet. “The problem with accepting new mages is there’s really nowhere for them to live here at the main property. Which means they’re living on their own in Los Santos, where they’re more easily targeted by other houses.” Cade gestured to the window. “Not to mention, most mages don’t want to move out to the middle of the forest, even if Icouldget the council’s permission to build more housing.”
I blew out a long breath. “So you have a few problems. Declan stole your money, now he probably owns the land you wanted, someone is trying to kill you, your council won’t give you the crown, and Brett knows you stole the money.”
